It was a humid Houston August night in 1974 when I turned on the television to see what was happening in my new hometown.  Could this possibly be the news? I was dumbfounded when I saw this ostentatiously dressed ABC newsman with a cotton-candy hairpiece yelling, "Maaaaaaarrvin Zindler...Eyewitness News!"

"Why would anyone make a wig like that?" I thought, "Worse still, why would anyone wear one like that?"  I had heard that they did things big in Texas, but this man's hair was bigger that life.  I would soon find out that so was the man.  I know I had to meet this fellow and show him what I could do to make his hair much more natural looking.  I mistakenly thought that he know no better.

A few years later at a charity function, a mutual friend, Judy Nichols, introduced my wife, Randi and me to Zindler and his wife, Gertrude.  After some small talk, the subject of his hair came up, and I invited him to my office to let me design his next hairpiece.

Within weeks, we had our fitting consultation, and I found the answer to my question.  Why would anyone make a cotton-candy wig like that?  One very good reason - Zindler actually wanted it that way.  He designs everything himself:  clothes, shirts, ties, glasses and most defiantly, his hair.  It was obvious at that point that I would have little influence over his hair fashion because this overstated hair was all part of his long-established and successful image.

Interestingly enough, Zindler has never been bald.  He was so sure that he would go bald that he proactively began wearing hair replacements years before they were needed.

Most people know Zindler as a caring and giving man.  That he is.  He gives from his heart and soul long after the cameras stop rolling.  Zindler has broadened and enriched my life by giving me the rewarding opportunity to help children who needed hair replacements as a result of medical complications, genetic caused and some traumas.  I've found no greater reward than giving, and there is no greater caregiver that I know personally than Marvin Zindler.

Most people don't know Zindler as the clown who used to wear cotton-candy hair.  He's funny, playful and spontaneous, mischievous and charmingly child-like at times.  He'll even hop out from the privacy of our workstation, modeling a new wig in full length to my staff and clients.  Neither George Washington nor the hippie generation had anything on Zindler.  His energy level amazes me.  He truly lives for the moment and is always ready to go and do and experience life.

A couple of years ago, I traveled with Zindler to Italy for two weeks.  He said he could see my knees shaking as I stood before St. Peters Cathedral in the Vatican.  I felt the presence of God so strongly, and I realized for the first time that I believed in angels - among us.  Zindler is an awakened man who gives and shares and makes the time for joy and happiness.  I learn about life from him every time we're together.

- By Tom Magliaro